An implementation of the X Window System that makes it possible to run X11-based applications in Mac OS X. Based on the open source XFree86 project Â— the most common implementation of X11 Â— X11 for Mac OS X is compatible, fast, and fully integrated with Mac OS X. It includes the full X11R6.6 technology including an X11 window server, Quartz window manager, libraries, and basic utilities such as xterm.

There are two different applications now, both have version number 2.5.0. One is called X11 (and is only for Leopard) and overwrites X11 from Apple. The other is called XQuartz (only for Snow Leopard) and installs side by side with X11 from Apple.

"1.6 [sic] contains version 2.3.4 of X11. Not surprisingly, this version lies between 2.3.3.2 and 2.4.0. It contains all the fixes that went into Xplugin, quartz-wm, and most of the server fixes, but it is still on the 1.4 server branch. Most of the userland libraries were updated to what was shipped in 2.4.0 with a few exceptions.

2.4.0 will not be released for SnowLeopard. 2.4.1 will be the first release that can be installed on SnowLeopard. There will be separate Leopard and SnowLeopard packages for 2.4.1 and later. On SnowLeopard, X11 will no longer install over the system's X11. It will install in its own prefix to allow side-by-side use with the Apple-provided X11."

I prefer to avoid running applications that need X11, but it's worth it for certain gems like The GIMP. Apple has given us a really slick X Server that integrates seamlessly into the Mac OS X GUI. It even supports running some X applications that are being tunneled remotely via SSH!

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